


Bookshelf heart

by Yougaythen



Category: Ballum, Callum “halfway” Highway/Ben Mitchell - Fandom
Genre: A mention of a sister for Ben but nothing to do with his Eastenders family., Bookshop owner!ben, M/M, bookshop au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-04
Updated: 2020-06-15
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:40:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,230
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24534748
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yougaythen/pseuds/Yougaythen
Summary: When Callum ends up in bens bookshop he falls for him, enlisting the help of his sister he tries to win over the man of his dreams. When the feelings become mutual they start a future together as a three. But what will Ben’s bookshelf heart have instore?
Relationships: Ballum - Relationship, ben mitchell - Relationship, callum highway - Relationship
Comments: 1
Kudos: 19





	1. Ocean eyes

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first ever chaptered fic and au but I hope people enjoy. I’ve not set an exact number of chapters because I want to see how it flows.

The words were all there, endless spines full of freedom and a lack of fears. But opening up the bookstore each day seemed like a chore, the same lady coming in each week grabbing the first book she could put her hands on, paying and then heading over to the conjoined reading area. That was Ben's favourite place, he didn’t go in there often but when he did it was full of magic, the ceiling painted with stars and galaxies, and the walls painted to look like the flowing fields, soft areas broke up the tables and chairs, painted with stories and wonder. And as much as Ben said he hated it here it was a little escape from the life he had at home, falling into looking after his sister Ivy from when she was just a toddler, but that was the joy of having your own bookstore. 

The week started like any other, opening the blinds and arranging the books on the turntable for the week, putting on some record in the background to add that slight bit of sound and then finally unlocking the door all before 10am, he was pretty proud of himself, the first half the week he worked alone, it was never overly busy enough for two of them, the people who stopped by were regulars now, the same mix of artsy college students, some brought laptops others brought their reading material or others just wanting a step away from their education. Coming into the bookstore didn’t mean you had to purchase the book if you wanted to read it in the back room, you could have it reserved with your name on until finished and then it would be returned to the shelf. 

Monday’s were quiet, Ben sat back in his chair, grabbing out his phone and playing some random games to pass the time, people come and left, no disturbance,“um-” the voice startling Ben out of his thoughts “I’d like to buy this please” he said handing over the book and the exact money “uh yeah of course. Thanks” Ben returned, shocked at the man that stood before him, he was tall, slightly thinner than Ben but had these similar ocean eyes and this gorgeous smile with dimples on each cheek, Ben felt his heart sink, “do you know any good quiet places round here, just needing a break from the thoughts” he continued “I’m Callum” “Ben, and yeah, we have a back room if you’d like to sit in there I’ll show you where it is, it’s typically quiet, can make you a drink if you like” trying not to make it obvious he was falling for this man the instant their eyes met. 

Ben takes him to the back room, abandoning the shopfront, “wow it’s beautiful in here” Callum says taking in the area surrounding him, there’s a couple of students at the back, quietly chatting away but the room is largely untouched, much like the bounds of books upon those shelves.   
“Yeah, painted it mostly myself” “really” “no of course I didn’t, not that clever, my sister Ivy did it, she’s 14, had to transform something for school when she was 12 so ended up convincing me to let her change this place, it’s the best part about this place though, not that I get to see it much” he’s oversharing again, his cheeks flushing pink and he continues “what do you want to drink? Make yourself comfortable” “uh just some hot chocolate will be okay thanks” and with that Ben was off.

Upon returning with his drink Ben properly took a look at Callum, bundled up on some cushions book in front of him, it was at this point Ben realised the book he was holding, one of his personal favourites that he’d actually read, about two hopeless romantics falling in love, but the world doing everything to pull them apart. “Hope that’s okay” Ben says, passing Callum the cup “I better go back to the shop, if you need anything you know where to find me” smiles were exchanged and back to the front Ben went. 

Once sat down and slightly calmed down he took his phone from his pocket again, bringing up Ivy’s name, she’d most likely be in class but it was worth a try. ‘There’s a cute boy in the back room, his eyes are like lagoons filled with silver and gold’ he sent her, she’d know where to take it from here, hopefully popping away from school for an emergency appointment and dropping into the shop. Students still came and left, but Callum stayed, popping back to see Ben a couple times. 

By the time Ivy arrived Ben had already had a phone call from the school asking for confirmation about her appointment and why he wasn’t there to pick her up, throwing any lies he could at them knowing he’d drop in and explain at a later day but right now his love for Callum was all that was on his mind. “Take a book, pretend you're reading, as soon as you see him you will know” Ben says to her, passing her a book about airplanes or something. 

Callum looked up from his book as soon as he heard the gate click, looking at the girl in front of him, dressed in school clothes, backpack upon her back “I’m Ivy” she says, holding out a hand to Callum “Ben sister” he questioned. “Yeah he called me out of school, so what do you think? You must be new here, we know most people here, we live upstairs” she says with a smile, Ben was right his eyes were beautiful, but then so was everything about him. “Won’t you get in trouble from your parents? And yeah, I’m moving to the area, come to check out what was around, dropped a couple things off at the new place” “we don’t have anything to do with our parents, they dropped us when I was little, Ben came out as gay and they ended up rejecting both of us, and we ended up moving in upstairs, one of Bens old friends parents owned it and over time bens brought the building from them. Things are good though, it’s a lovely area” she stops, realising she’s just told this guy some of their most personal details. His eyes soften and he’s taking her into a hug. “I better go” he says, “I’ll stop off at Ben before I go” he’s smiling and Ivy thinks perhaps he has a soft spot for Ben too. 

Back out in the shop bens serving someone, placing their book behind the counter and wishing them a great rest of their day, and then Callum catches his eyes again. “Thanks for everything today, Ivy is really sweet. I didn’t realise you owned this place” looking around him the walls seem miles away but Ben seems so close “Yeah” he’s lost for words. “Maybe you’d like to go for a drink sometime” he questions “get to know the area better, and you” the question hanging there, “okay sounds good” their hands connect briefly and then out the door Callum goes, into the cold streets before him. 

Shutting up the shop for the night, leaving the fairy lights on, locking the door and heading upstairs to join Ivy, “so” she questioned “well I think he will be back tomorrow, he asked me to go out for a drink with him. Maybe he’s the one Ivy” “he gives great hugs” she ends. 

The night was quiet, the usual slightly out of it people going home via the silent streets, something was playing on the tv, Ivy’s choice, food had been eaten and forgotten about, the lamps lit the room, main lighting being too much for them both, appreciating the darkness. But the only thing in Ben's mind was that of Callum, his eyes, dimples, smile and body. The morning couldn’t come quick enough.


	2. Hot chocolate and cookies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bens not sure he’ll see Callum again, but when a voice calls his name they end up spending all afternoon together.

The week dragged, Ben hadn’t seen Callum since Monday, it was now Thursday. He thought he’d see him on Tuesday but he was starting to lose hope of ever seeing him again. 

“Ivy you're going to be late if you don’t get up and I have a bookshop to open up after” Ben calls into Ivy’s room, he had to take her into school today, making up the excuse for Monday and then going to defend it, he did this all too often for her. She loved being around the bookstore growing up there. It was her home, during her days off school she ran the back room, the second half of the week always being busier than the start, the students that dropped by increased, Ben only presumed classes were less at the end of the week. 

After dropping Ivy into school, and blagging himself out of getting her into trouble and then sending her off to lesson with a kiss to the top of her head, “see you at later” he called out to her, she hated it but Ben vowed to do it ever since he sent her on that very first day. Then back to the bookstore to have a quick check around then open up ready for the first set of people. Thursdays were the day the shop shut earlier than the rest of the week, Ben deciding when Ivy was younger it meant he was able to spend the afternoon with her. 

After opening the usual stream of students came and left some reserved books, Ben always thought he could tell something about the book the students picked up. Maybe sometimes he was wrong, but he’d never really know, the moment the bookstore opens his life switches into a mode where he can be whoever he wants, do whatever he wants and as long as the people inside his shop are happy and safe there aren’t any issues, and then as soon as he shuts up the shop his life switches back again, the calm collected life of Ben, brother to Ivy who both liked nothing more than to sit around watching films or rubbish tv together. 

Taking his phone from his pocket once again he sits back, sun shining down through the window, opening up the holiday website he’d been looking at the night before, he scrolled through. They’d never really had a proper summer holiday, always wanting to put the money up in case they needed it, but Ben knew Ivy needed a treat, he’d found a little house, walking straight outside the door and onto the flowing sands. It was perfect, booking it for a couple weeks ahead he had time to let the school know he was taking Ivy out for the week, he’d most likely get in trouble for it but it was almost the summer holidays and Ivy never seemed to be doing much. 

Getting up and moving away from the front desk Ben went to make a drink, running on whatever he’d had yesterday, he’d not really thought about Callum today, or not that he remembered if he had but making the drink made him think about him. That gorgeous boy that stood in front of him, his hopes were there, maybe he would come back, or maybe Ben wouldn’t ever see him again. 

The bell on the door, breaking Ben out of his thoughts and back into the room, heading back to the front to see who had entered or left. He found money on the counter top, a note that detailed how they couldn’t find him so left the money, a tip to treat himself with and they’d be back once they finished the book. 

The day dragged, the streets outside were empty, a couple businessmen walking down around lunchtime was the most he’d seen all day, he’d seen six or seven students come and go and he just wanted to shut up and go get Ivy, he’d given up hope of seeing Callum that day, maybe it was for the best, he’d have his quiet night with Ivy and nothing else of him would be mentioned. Heading into the back room he warned the two remaining students that he’d be closing soon, and they started to pack up and leave. 

Ben turned the sign over and headed upstairs, going to change into a shirt before grabbing his bag and heading back down to lock up and get Ivy. Once at the bottom of the stairs he grabbed his jacket from the hook and headed out. 

“Ben” Callum calls stopping Ben from walking forward until he turns and sees Callum “Where are you going? Why aren’t you open?” He questioned “Didn’t think I’d see you today” he’s smiling “I’m off to pick up Ivy, we do it every Thursday, walk home together and then have a cozy night in. So that’s why I’m not open. You can walk with me though if you like? I’m sure Ivy would like to see you again” “Okay, was kind of hoping to spend the afternoon with you anyway. Get to know you a little better” and off they go, “So what do you want to know” Ben says, hands coming out of his pockets and falling by his sides. 

They talk all the way to Ivy’s school, crossing the road and entering the office part of the building “Ben is everything alright” the voice behind the desk starts “You here for Ivy or just to talk. And who’s this” she’s saying standing up looking at Callum “Just come to get Ivy, and this is Callum, we’re getting to know each other” he says smiling at her “Alright Ben I’ll go get her for you” and she was gone. “She seems nice” Callum asks “Yeah she is, she was here when I was, helped me look after Ivy when everything first happened” 

“Callum” Ivy calls walking through the door “You decided Ben wasn’t that bad then” she laughs taking Ben into a hug “Good day? Do anything fun today” “If you call running around a field for half a day and then being stuck with Mr Evans going on about some rubbish fun, then maybe” she breaks away and they walk out. This was the advantage of having Ben as an almost parent, he could talk his way around anything and convinced people really easily. Proven in the way that Ivy had now been at the secondary for three years and not once did they ever second question why Ivy was leaving at 2:15 every Thursday. It just became known that Ben picked her up and off they went. 

“So have you two been together all day then” “I wish” Ben says sarcastically “Went to get changed after closing up, locked up and started walking then had this one call my name wondering why we weren’t open” “Just wanted to see you that’s all” “So then where are we stopping tonight?” Ben asks Ivy “I should probably go, leave you two to your time” Callum says, “Don’t-” Ivy starts “I’m sure Ben won’t mind you staying with us for a bit, and I definitely don’t mind, it’s nice to see mr grumpy pants smiling for once” she says looking up at Ben and smiling. 

They walk for a while, at some point Ben and Callum’s hands have joined neither of them saying anything just allowing it to flow. “I want to go in here” Ivy speaks up, a small cafe on the end of their road “This place does the best hot chocolates and my favourite cookies you have to try them” she tells Callum “Are you sure you don’t mind be staying, I can go if you want, don’t feel bad” “I want you to stay Callum. And I’m pretty sure Ben does too” 

They enter, Ben orders three hot chocolates and three of their biggest cookies while Ivy and Callum go get a table, they head to the upstairs area, it’s always quiet and pretty much empty, it is full of decorative lights and the comfiest chairs Ivy had ever sat in. “You know, your brother is pretty cute” Callum says sitting down next to Ivy “You should tell him, I think he’s pretty mad about you too” “Really” and then they both spot Ben dropping the conversation. 

They don’t stop talking the entire time they are there, learning new things about each other falling for each other. By the time they leave the cafe the air outside is starting to chill, Ivy evidently shivering “Why don’t you ever take a jacket to school, how many more times must I tell you” Ben says taking his jacket off and placing over her shoulders and her bag making her look like a tortoise. 

They walk back to the bookstore in almost silence, taking in the natural ambiance around them, once at the front door Ivy can see the awkwardness flash over ben's face “Thank you for letting me into your afternoon Ivy” Callum says taking ben's hands into his “And thank you for letting me spend my afternoon and evening in your company” he smiles. Standing on his tiptoes Ben leans up and kisses him, their first kiss right outside the bookstore, pulling away “I’ll see you around I guess” and he’s walking away, Ben’s face blushing a light pink. “Let’s get you in before you freeze” Ivy’s saying to him but his mind is elsewhere. On Callum. 

The rest of their night ran smoothly, ordering in food because Ben really didn’t want to cook after that and then Ivy choosing some romantic film, head on bens chest “You know-”she starts “What” “-well I like this, maybe it’s time we went from just two of us to three. And I really think Callum’s the person I want to let into our family, he clearly makes you happy. I didn’t tell you this, but he gave me his number on Monday, told me to pass it onto you but I didn’t want him to break your heart. But he’s sweet enough, here you go” passing Ben the slip of paper she’d been hiding in the back of her phone. 

Ben spent the rest of the night texting him, he couldn’t get enough, he didn’t know how soon he’d see him again or what was going to happen but he knew he for certain fell for the ocean eyed boy. And with Ivy being a fan of him too that’s what mattered. Maybe at some point he would just be known as family. Letting someone into their life wasn’t going to be easy but they were clearly both ready.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading. I’m really enjoying writing this and have a lot of different directions I want to take with it. Hope you enjoyed


	3. Permission

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a somewhat filler chapter, I didn’t want a massive time jump without explanation. The chapter after is going to be one of my favourites though

The following week went great, Callum dropping into the bookstore nearly every day, Sam agreeing to run the store while Ben and Ivy were away and everyone and everything seemed full of summer happiness. 

“Are you sure you’ll be alright, I need to go tell the school now, and then pick Ivy up and tell her” he’s telling Sam, grabbing a jacket from the bottom of the stairs and heading out the door. “Callum, I’m just heading out, I forgot to say I’m off to ask the schools permission” “Permission for what?” Confusion washing over his face “Well I might have booked a holiday for me and Ivy a couple of weeks ago and never told them, she doesn’t know either. But I want to tell her on our night tonight” and they are walking together, Callum’s plans now completely changed, heading in the somewhat familiar direction of the school. Hands falling together. 

Once at the school Callum tells Ben he’ll wait outside, none of this was his place to be a part of he didn’t think. “Ben you're here early” that familiar voice of Jenny called out “Do you want me to go get Ivy” “Uh no, I was hoping we could have a little chat about her before I pick her up” “Alright Ben, come on round and in” he walks round, something about this makes him feel young again, “I was just wondering if it would be okay for me to take Ivy out if school next week, I’ve booked us a little holiday away, she’s doing great at school and I wanted to treat her” he’s rambling, avoiding the answer “Of course you can Ben, not like she’s doing much at the moment anyway, just all fun and games now their assessments are done. You going somewhere nice” she replies “A little place on the seafront” he says pulling his phone from his pocket and bringing up some photos. “That’s beautiful, does she know?” “Not yet, I’m going to take her out for pizza tonight and tell her then” “And what about him” she gestures out the window towards Callum who’s still sat on the flowerbed wall “He’s good, well maybe a bit more than good. He’s everything I could ever want other than Ivy. And she likes him so it’s a massive plus” struggling to hide his smile. 

Jenny goes to collect Ivy and they are almost repeating what they did a couple weeks back, a bit less awkward this time, Ben’s hands naturally finding Callum’s and they head back to the bookstore. Ben tells Ivy to go get changed out of her uniform and put something nice on because he was treating her tonight, he stayed downstairs in the closed bookstore, holding Callum close, the height difference between them was evident, Callum bending down slightly to press a short kiss to ben's forehead. Ben wanted to stay in these moments forever, Ivy living her happiest moments and him madly in love. 

He said goodbye to Callum, promising he’d ring him when he’d got home and said their goodbyes. Ivy came down the stairs, looking beautiful, Ben was proud to call her his sister, hair flowing in loose curls, a white cropped top and her usual blue jeans, it was times like this he couldn’t resist giving her a hug, they were both grown up now but she was always going to be his little sister. Leaving the store they hopped onto the bus taking them to the centre of town. 

“Why are we here, we never do this unless something special is happening” Ivy speaks up “Well something special is happening” he says as they enter into the restaurant, given it wasn’t the most fancy in town but it was definitely the most them.   
“Your not going to school next week” he starts once they are seated “I’m taking you on holiday, it’s all booked, been cleared with school and I think you will love it” “Are you serious?” she’s looking over his face waiting for it to be a joke “We've never done a holiday before” “I know but I think you deserve it. We both do, do you want to see?” He questions, taking his phone from his pocket once again and bringing up those familiar photos “Wow, it’s beautiful Ben” he smiles back at her. 

They eat and talk the rest of the night of how excited they are, they talk a little about school and Callum, “So when are you going on your first proper date then” Ivy asks. She’s getting a soft spot for Callum seeing how gentle and delicate he is with Ben. “Soon” is all he can say “Well when you do I want to dress you, make you mr handsome” she says “What do you really think of him?” Ben questions, they hadn’t fully spoken about Ben entering a relationship, this was new to both of them. “I think he’s great, he seems way cooler than you, and I think you should try to make it work with him. Who knows I might even have a relationship in the future” and she’s smiling at him, like she used to when she was little. 

The upstairs was dark, Ben forgetting to leave a light on before he left earlier in the day, walking up the stairs and into the living room, the flat wasn’t massive, two bedrooms that led into the living room, connected to the kitchen and at the far end was the bathroom, it wasn’t the best layout but it worked back when Ben first needed somewhere to stay and it worked now, not needing more space, there was only two of them. 

Ivy said goodnight to Ben and headed off to her room, conscious it was getting late and she promised liv she’d ring her once home and Ben heading straight to the sofa picking up the tv remote and putting it on, he had no idea what channel or program was about to play just putting it on for background noise so he could ring Callum, not wanting to overhear Ivy’s conversation with liv either. 

They talked for what felt like hours, Ben falling asleep on the phone to Callum, curled up on the sofa, tv still chatting on. Ivy knew she should have been asleep ages ago, heading out to the kitchen to grab a drink and wake Ben to tell him that she’d be going to Liv’s for the night tomorrow, he sleepily agreed and off back to bed she went. Ben still fully asleep on the sofa where he’d be staying for the night. Callum arranging to meet the following day, for the drinks they were yet to have.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading ❤️ If you didn’t see my update schedule for this is a Monday and Thursday until I run out of chapters (I should have planned all chapters so have an exact number next week)

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading. I’m hoping to update weekly, for X amount of weeks. ❤️


End file.
